Christmas Day Agreement

The Christmas Day Agreement was signed between the nation of Ireland and the United Kingdom which settle The Troubles in Northern Ireland resulting in the new the State of Ulster. It was signed on 25 December 1984 in Belfast by representatives of the UK and Ireland as well as all leading parties in Northern Ireland after several years of negotiations.

The agreement can trace it's origins from the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council which was established in 1981 tasked to settle the Northern Ireland conflict. Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and British Prime Minister, James Callagham, met several times between 1981 to 1984 to discuss the issue. Callagham eventually accepted the New Ireland Forum's 1984 report that the conflict could be solved in a joint soverignty over Northern Ireland.

The report was brought to Westminister where the Conservative Party and the Unionists fiercely opposed the report, but Callagham managed to gain the support from the rest of the Parliament in order to pass the bill. This led to the signing of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement where Ireland would be given an advisory role over the government of Northern Ireland and preparing for further negotiations with all parties within Northern Ireland.

The negotiations were initially opposed by Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party, but eventually both sides were encouraged to take their seats at the table. The process stalled many times but on 25 December 1984, the Belfast Agreement was finally signed, establishing a unity government in Stormont and providing for joint Anglo-Irish rule through the Council of Ulster.

The creation of Ulster largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland at the cost of James Callagham's premiership as he lost the 1989 general election due to his decision of ceding soverignty of British land.